2017 Confectionery Trends

Whether you run a bakery, chocolate shop, candy store or any other confectionery related business, it's important to stay up to date on industry trends so that you can keep your business moving and growing in the right direction. At Royal Wholesale, we strive to stay informed on such trends so that we can supply our customers with the best, most sought after confectionery items on the market. As you go through 2017, be sure to keep the following trends in mind for your business.

1. Health & Wellness

While many consumers are making the move to a more healthy lifestyle, that doesn't necessarily mean that they've lost their sweet tooth! What it does mean is that they're looking for sweet snacks that deliver health benefits such as added protein, vitamins and minerals and feature other healthy ingredients. Consumers are also keeping an eye out for clean labels meaning that products that are gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, vegan, non-GMO, natural, or organic are being highly sought after.

2. Sweet & Savory Blends

Sweet and savory combinations are being taken to a whole new level these days in the confectionery industry. Out of the box thinking, more sophisticated flavor palettes and some downright strange flavor combinations have led to surprisingly tasty treats such as chocolate with vegetables, spicy candies & chocolates, salted sweets, and bacon flavored goodies.

3. Single Serve & Resealable Packaging

In today's busy world, many people end up enjoying their sweet snacks on the go. Therefore, individual sized packages that can be easily packed in purses, lunchboxes and briefcases are ideal. They also happened to be perfectly portioned, which helps keep consumers from overindulging. Resealable packages offer the convenience of being able to close the snack package to save the remainder of the treats for another time while properly maintaining product freshness.

4. Ethical Products

Now more than ever, consumers are becoming more aware of where and how their food is produced. They expecting to see products made with ingredients that are responsibly sourced, sustainable, fair trade and with packaging made from recycled materials.

5. Premium Products

It's been proven that consumers are will to pay more for products that they deem to be "premium". So what is a premium product? Well, much of that is up to the consumer. It's whatever is most important to them whether it's products that are small batch, craft, limited time offerings, contain premium ingredients or provide added benefits. We guess you could say premium is in the eye of the beholder.

We hope these trends give you some insight into what you can expect to see in the confectionery industry in 2017 and that they assist you with your wholesale confectionery buying and product offerings.